Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #5
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 768
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

My Thoughts

This is my third time reading HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. It was the first Harry Potter book I had to wait to be published. When I started to read this series, the first four books were already out. When I finished Goblet of Fire, I didn’t think I could wait the two long years, which turned into three, for Order of the Phoenix to be published because of how Goblet of Fire ended. If I thought I’d get resolution with it, I was much mistaken.

I know Order of the Phoenix is a lot of fans’ least favorite of the series. They didn’t like how angry Harry was. While I enjoy reading about Harry when he’s in a better mood, I understood where he was coming from. If I had been in his shoes, experiencing everything he did, dealing with Umbridge, I’m sure I would’ve been angry too. It just didn’t bother me. In fact, I think this book is fantastic for many reasons.

I love to hate Umbridge. She is such a well-written character. I hate her even more than I hate Voldemort because while both Voldemort and Umbridge are hungry for power, Umbridge, being a member of the ministry and not being looked upon as a dark wizard, has the ability to inflict harm and misery upon Harry (and everyone at Hogwarts) throughout the entire year. Hogwarts is supposed to be a happy place for Harry, but Umbridge thwarts that on many occasions.

The end-of-the-school-year-chat with Dumbledore is my favorite of all the previous ones. I love the amount of insight we get into Dumbledore’s character during this chat. I think it makes it much more poignant that he has “ignored” Harry throughout the year. You can really see how much he cares for Harry when he finally discusses everything with him. And, even though he has to prepare Harry for what’s to come in the future, something I don’t think Dumbledore is at all eager to do, his love for Harry is more apparent in this novel than any of the previous ones.

I love meeting the members of the Order, and spending as much time with Sirius and learning more about his past. It’s so intriguing to see the inner workings of the Order. Even though we don’t get to see a lot of it because Dumbledore doesn’t want Harry knowing everything, we still get to see a lot of how it functions–guard detail, throwing off the Ministry of Magic, spying on Voldemort, etc.

As with the previous books in the series, I love the awesome foreshadowing in this story. I love the subtle mention of the locket. I also love that you get a glimpse of what’s to come in Half-Blood Prince.

While this isn’t my favorite book of the series, it isn’t my least favorite either. The complexity of the story is a wonderful addition and integral part of Harry’s life while he’s at Hogwarts. With all the darkness in this story, it makes me appreciate the light-hearted atmosphere in the others more than I already did.

Update: When I’ve reread this series, I’ve sometimes listened to the audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale. I love how much Dale brings the stories to life.

I’ve also been able to read a U.K. edition of each of the novels. The first four novels have the most differences, especially the first book. I loved getting to read Rowling’s original words, the words she wrote, not the words “translated” for U.S. readers.